Holcim to stage global prize-giving in Bangkok

Holcim Group has Bangkok as the venue for the awards ceremony for its global contest to find works that mark genuine milestones in the advancement of sustainable construction. 

The US$2-million (Bt76.9-million) Holcim Awards contest is entering its final phase, with the submission deadline on March 31. Winners for the Asia-Pacific region will be chosen in Beijing in the last quarter of this year. To date, 277 applications have been received, of which 31 come from the Asia-Pacific region. 

The Bangkok ceremony will take place in April 2006. Holcim is a major shareholder of Siam City Cement Plc. 

Urs Bieri, a member of Holcim’s board, told visiting editors from the Asia News Network in Zurich that one of the objectives of the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction is to award prizes for innovative, future-oriented and effective sustainable construction projects. 

He said the Holcim Awards recognise any contribution to sustainable construction , regardless of scale , in architecture, landscape and urban design, civil and mechanical engineering, and related disciplines. At the date of submission, the project must have reached an advanced design stage prior to the beginning of construction. 

The design must demonstrate proof of sustainability according to five guidelines set forth by the Holcim Foundation and its partner universities. 

The Holcim Foundation is partnering with five of the world’s leading technical universities, including the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tongji University in Shanghai, the University of San Paulo, and the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.